To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 15 February (HL12876) and the judgment by the Special Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea on 28 January concerning the delimitation of a maritime boundary between the Exclusive Economic Zones of Mauritius and Maldives in the vicinity of the Chagos Archipelago, what assessment they have made of whether the UK and the Republic of the Maldives are also entitled to agree a delimitation of a maritime boundary between the UK (in respect of its claim to the British Indian Ocean Territory) and the Republic of the Maldives.
Answered on
8 March 2021
The judgment by the Special Chamber of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) was in relation to the delimitation of a maritime boundary claimed by Mauritius to exist between Mauritius and the Republic of Maldives in the Indian Ocean. The UK was not a party to those proceedings, which can have no effect for the UK or for maritime delimitation between the UK (in respect of the British Indian Ocean Territory) and Maldives.